Improvement in lamps



i c. ST. 10HN.

Lamp Burner.

No. 71,242. .Patented Nov. I9, 1867.

* UNITED STATES vPrvrfnvi keine,

CORNELIUS S'r. JOHN, OF OHARLESTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS.

.|MPROVEMENT IN LAMPS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 71.242, dated November 19, 1867.,

To all whom it nmy'concern:

Be it known that I, OORNELiUs ST. JOHN, of Charlestown, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lamp- Burners; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, due reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specitcation, and in which- Figures l and 2 are vertical sections; Fig. 8 a side elevation, and Fig. 4 a top view, of a lamp-burner constructed in accordance with my invention.

My present invention is an improvement in that class of lamp-burners generally known as kerosene-burners, or those for burning light volatile oils for purposes of illumination, 85e., one object of the invention being to so construct the burner that the lower part of the chimney employed with such burner shall be maintained in a comparatively cool state, or one sufficiently so to enable such chimney to be handled with impunity at any time while the wick is inllamed, the same construction which accomplishes this object also enabling me to produce a burner at very small cost.

Another object of this invention is to insulate the burner from the body of the lamp by the interposition of a nonconducting material composing the body of such burner, thus preventing possibility of heating and vaporizing the contents of the lamp by radiation, and enabling a highly volatile substance to be employed, if desirable.

The invention further has for its object, to provide a ready means of regulating or adjusting the upper surface of the wick before or after being inflamed, for the purpose of producing an even llame, and this-without the necessity of extinguishing the ilame or removing the chimney.

By referring to the accompanying drawings, in the different figures of which like letters indicate like parts, it will be seen that the body of the burner is denoted by the letter A, and as composed of a cylinder of wood suitably formed for supporting upon its exterior surface the chimney, which ts over it and rests upon the iiange as, and with its interior or chamber a of suliicient capacity to supply the proper amount of oxygen to the flame of the wick, the tube for receiving such wick being shown atb as supported in part by a foraminous shelt'or plate, c, formin g the bottom of chamber a, and by a smaller cylindrical perforated extension or neck d,`the lower :part ofsuch neck being furnished with a ma-le screw in the ordinary manner for application to the mouth 0f the lamp.

The conical delicctor, or that shallow portion of one necessary to my invention, is shown at e as surmountin g the cylinder A, a-nd connected to its mouth or opening f by a short foraminous tube, g. The air for admixture with the flame passes upward through the foraminous bottom c, thence upward to and about the top of the wick, tube, and the dciiector e, the iutcrsticesin the tube g preventing to a great extent liability of radiation ot heat from such deiiector to the body of the burner, and also aiding in a beneficial distribution of air about the parts.

In order that the burner may accommodate itself to slight differences in diameter of chim neys of the sa-me grade of size, I apply to one side of the body A a small spring-wire, h, one end of which is bent at a right angle and screwed into such body A. By turning this wire in one or the other direction it will approach or recede from the burner, according to the size ot' the chimney, which it will securely retain in place.

It will be selfevident, besides 'having been proved in practice, that as wood is a good non-conductor of heat, the lower part of thc chimney will be maintained ina cool state, and so that it may be handled at any time while the lamp is in operation. For the Same reason it will be apparent that heat cannot be radiated to any extent from the deector e to the body of the lamp and heat its contents.

The wick elevating and adjusting device is constructed as follows: A shaft, yi, carrying one notched wheel j is supported in a hole made in one side of the neck d, and has its inner end extending into a tubular shaft, k, supported in like manner in the opposite side ofthe neck cl, and to which is affixed the sec ond notched wheel l, the outer ends of the shaft i and 4It being provided with the usual milled head for rotating them. The shaft t' lits within the tubular shaft 7c with sufficient friction to cause both shafts to revolve together and elevate the wick by power applied to either of such shafts. Should the two sides ofthe upper surface of the wick, as is often theease, be of unequal height, notwithstanding the greatest care exercised in trimming it, by turning either one or the other of the shafts z or k in the right direction, and holding the other shaft immovable, the two edges or corners of the Wick may be adjusted While the wick is iniiamed until its iiame is even. By this arrangement of the two shafts and la the Wick may he raised or lowered from either side, the advantage of which will readily manifest itself to intelligent persons.

I claim- 1. The combination, with the base and wicktuhe of a lamp-burner, of the cylindrical chimney/rest and supporter A, of'wood or other suitable material which is a nou-conductor of heat, substantially in the manner and i'or the purposes herein shown and specified.

CORNELIUS ST. JOHN.

Witnesses EDMUNDv H. HEWlNs, FREDERIQK CURTIS. 

